Front pillar for a vehicle body

ABSTRACT

A vehicle frame structure includes a front pillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall, an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internal space is partitioned by longitudinally extending first and second ribs connecting inside faces of the forward and rear walls and a laterally extending third rib connecting an inside face of the inner side wall and the first rib. The first, second and third ribs separate the front pillar into a plurality of interior hollow portions. Two laterally adjacent hollow portions define an outer lateral portion of the front pillar and two longitudinally adjacent hollow portions define an inner lateral portion of the front pillar.

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/414,821 filed Jan. 25, 2017, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/960,732 filed Dec. 7, 2015 and now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,598,112, both disclosures being incorporated herein.

BACKGROUND

A front pillar of a vehicle body is a critical structural member forfront crash modes. On conventional steel white bodies the front pillaris formed of an inner panel and an outer panel that are welded together.Stiffeners, bulkheads, and/or reinforcements are added inside of thefront pillar to improve its strength. A front weld flange of the frontpillar typically connects to a dashboard lower. A rear weld flange ofthe front pillar can function as a door seal flange. High strength steelis generally used for strength. In aluminum vehicle frames the frontpillar can be made of a stamped aluminum construction that is similar tothe typical steel construction. An aluminum extrusion can also be used,and in some instances part of the front pillar can be cast aluminum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect, a vehicle frame structure comprises a frontpillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall,an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internalspace is partitioned by a longitudinally extending first rib and alaterally extending second rib interconnecting the first rib and theinner side wall. The first rib separates the front pillar into an outerlateral portion and an inner lateral portion. The outer lateral portionis defined by an outer lateral section of each of the front and rearwalls and the outer side wall. The inner lateral portion is defined byan inner lateral section of each of the front and rear walls and theinner side wall. The inner lateral portion of the front pillar has alength greater than a length of the outer lateral portion of the frontpillar.

According to another aspect, a vehicle frame structure comprises a frontpillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall,an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internalspace is partitioned by longitudinally extending first and second ribsconnecting inside faces of the forward and rear walls and a laterallyextending third rib connecting an inside face of the inner side wall andthe first rib. The first, second and third ribs separate the frontpillar into a plurality of interior hollow portions. Two laterallyadjacent hollow portions define an outer lateral portion of the frontpillar and two longitudinally adjacent hollow portions define an innerlateral portion of the front pillar.

According to another aspect, a vehicle frame structure comprises a frontpillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rear wall,an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall. The internalspace is partitioned by longitudinally extending first and second ribsconnecting inside faces of the forward and rear walls and a laterallyextending third rib connecting an inside face of the inner side wall andthe first rib. The first, second and third ribs separate the frontpillar into a plurality of interior hollow portions. One of the hollowportions solely defines an outer lateral portion of the front pillar andthe remaining hollow portions define an inner lateral portion of thefront pillar. Two of the remaining hollow portions at least partiallydefined by the forward wall are dimensioned smaller than two of theremaining hollow portions at least partially defined by the rear wall.The two smaller dimensioned hollow portions are configured as energyabsorbing lobes of the inner lateral portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a frame portion of a vehicle bodyaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a front pillar of the vehicle bodyof FIG. 1 according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is another cross-sectional view of the front pillar of FIG. 2showing a harness pass through area.

FIG. 4 depicts a force or load distribution of the front pillar of FIG.2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a front pillar of the vehicle bodyof FIG. 1 according to another aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the front pillar of FIG. 5showing a harness pass through area.

FIG. 7 depicts a force or load distribution of the front pillar of FIG.5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawingsherein are merely illustrative and that various modifications andchanges can be made in the structures disclosed without departing fromthe present disclosure. In general, the figures of the exemplary vehiclebody are not to scale. As used herein, lateral directions are transverseacross the vehicle body, i.e., left and right directions. Likewise,longitudinal directions refer to forward and rearward directions ofvehicle travel, and the vertical directions relate to elevation, i.e.,upward and downward directions. It will also be appreciated that thevarious identified components of the exemplary front pillar disclosedherein are merely terms of art that may vary from one manufacturer toanother and should not be deemed to limit the present disclosure.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like partsthroughout the several views, FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a frameportion of a vehicle body 100 including a side frame structure 102having a front pillar 110, a center pillar 112 each extending generallyin the vertical direction, a longitudinally extending roof side rail 116located above the pillars 110, 112, and a longitudinally extending sidesill 120 located below the pillars 110, 112. These structural elements110 to 120 define an openings 122 adapted to accommodate a door (notshown). The side frame structure 102 is provided at each of the rightand left sides of the vehicle body 100 and may be identicallyconstructed, but for their disposition on opposite sides of the vehicle.Incidentally, the structural elements 110 to 120 of the exemplary sideframe structure 102 are constituted by aluminum or aluminum alloymembers which are formed by extrusion molding so as the have thenecessary sectional shapes respectively, as described below. The vehiclebody 100 further includes a front frame structure 124 and a rear framestructure 126 each connected to the side frame structure 102, and afloor panel (not shown) is interposed between the left and right sidesills. The features of the front frame structure 124 and rear framestructure 126 are not germane to the present disclosure and will beomitted for conciseness.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary front pillar 110 ofthe vehicle body 100 according to one aspect of the present disclosure.The front pillar 110 has an internal space 130 defined by a forward wall132, a rear wall 134, an outer lateral side wall 136, and an innerlateral side wall 138. The side walls 136, 138 are located on,respectively, the left and right sides as viewed in the drawing, i.e.,the outer and inner sides with respect to the vehicle body 100. In thissense, the side walls 136, 138 are referred to as the outer lateral sidewall and the inner lateral side wall, respectively. The internal space130 is partitioned by a longitudinally extending first rib 140 and alaterally extending second rib 142. As depicted, the second rib 142connects the first rib 140 and an inside face 144 of the inner side wall138. The first rib 140 separates the front pillar 110 into an outerlateral portion 150 and an inner lateral portion 152. Accordingly, theouter lateral portion 150 of the front pillar 110 is defined by an outerlateral section 156 of the front wall 132, an outer lateral section 158of the rear wall 134, and the outer side wall 136. The inner lateralportion 152 of the front pillar 110 is defined by an inner lateralsection 160 of the forward wall 132, an inner lateral section 162 of therear wall 134, and the inner side wall 138. As shown, the inner lateralportion 152 of the exemplary front pillar 110 has a length greater thana length of the outer lateral portion 150 of the front pillar 110.Further, the outer lateral section 158 of the rear wall 134 includes anangled wall portion 168 extending in a vertical direction and connectingthe outer side wall 136 and the first rib 140.

The inner lateral portion 152 of the front pillar 110 is further definedby a longitudinally extending third rib 170 extending parallel to thefirst rib 140. The third rib 170 intersects the second rib 142 andconnects respective inside faces 172, 174 of the forward and rear walls132, 134. The first rib 140, second rib 142, and third rib 170 separatethe exemplary front pillar 110 into a plurality of interior hollowportions, and more particularly into five interior hollow portions 180to 188. The outer lateral portion 150 of the front pillar 110 solelydefines the hollow portion 180. The inner lateral portion 152 of thefront pillar 110 defines the remaining hollow portions 182 to 188. Thehollow portions 182, 184, which are defined by a forward portion of theinner side wall 138, the first rib 140, the second rib 142 and the innerlateral section 160 of the forward wall 132 are dimensioned smaller thanthe hollow portions 186, 188, which are defined by a rear portion of theinner side wall 138, the first and second ribs 140, 142 and the innerlateral section 162 of the rear wall 134. As will be described below,the two smaller dimension hollow portions 182, 184 are configured asenergy absorbing lobes of the inner lateral portion 152 of the frontpillar 110. The third rib 170 includes a section 196 rearward of thesecond rib 142 having a variable thickness. The section at leastpartially separates the hollow portions 186, 188 and is adapted tocontrol a crush distance of the two smaller dimension hollow portions182, 184 and transfer load to the rear wall 134. As depicted, thesection 196 of the third rib 170 has a reduced thickness.

With continued referenced to FIG. 2, the inner side wall 138 of thefront pillar 110 defines a mounting surface for a dashboard lower panel200 which can be positioned rearward of the second rib 142. A hingeplate 202 is secured to the outer side wall 136 and defines a mountingsurface for an outer side panel 204. The rear wall 134 defines amounting location for a door support flange 206 which is secured to theouter side panel 204. This allows a door seal (not shown) to be attachedto a non-structural separate part of the vehicle body 100. Further, FIG.3 depicts a door harness pass through area 210 of the front pillar 110which is defined by respective openings 212, 214 located in each of theouter and inner side walls 136, 138 and respective openings 216, 218located in each of the first and third ribs 140, 170. With thisarrangement, the harness pass through area 210 is rearward of the secondrib 142 and is defined only through the hollow portions 186, 188 of theinner lateral portion 152 of the front pillar 110.

FIG. 4 illustrates a force or load distribution of the exemplary frontpillar 110 as a result of a tire load (from impact of the forward wall132 with a front tire), a separate front frame load and a separate sideload (from a side crash impact). As depicted, because the forward wall132 is located directly rearward of the front tire, the tire load istransferred from the forward wall 132 to the rear wall 134 via the firstrib 140, third rib 170, and inner side wall 138. The tire loaddistributed to the rear wall 134 is then transferred to the surroundingbody structure of the vehicle body 100. An increased tire load can causethe smaller hollow portions 182, 184 to crush during impact therebyabsorbing energy. As indicated previously, the outer lateral portion 150of the front pillar is dimensioned smaller than the inner lateralportion 152 which can minimize a moment arm caused by loading of thedoor hinge. The variable thickness of the section 196 of the third rib170 controls the crush distance of the hollow portions 182, 184 andfurther transfers the load to the surrounding body structure. The frontframe load path is aligned with the second rib 142. The front frame loadis transferred through the second rib 142 to the first rib 140. Thefront frame load is further transferred through the inner side wall 138and then to the surrounding body structure of the vehicle body 100. Theside load applied to the outer side wall 136 is transferred through theforward wall 132 and the rear wall 134 to the surrounding body structureof the vehicle body 100.

Accordingly, the exemplary front pillar 110 comprises an aluminumextruded section with internal strengthening ribs 140, 142, 170 tomanage input loads. The front pillar includes a plurality of interiorhollow portions 180 to 188 defined by the internal ribs. The first andsecond ribs 140, 142 create the two smaller rectangular hollow portions182, 184 in the front of the front pillar section. These hollow portions182, 184 allow this area of the front pillar 110 to crush under theimpact load of the front tire on the forward wall 132. This crushabsorbs energy slowing the front tire down in a front crash mode. Thethird rib 170 includes the section 196 rearward of the second rib 142having a variable thickness to control the crush distance of the hollowportions 182, 184. The variable thickness then transfers the remainingenergy after crushing to the rear wall 134 of the front pillar 110 andthen into the surrounding body. The first rib 140 stabilizes the crushof the outer lateral portion 150 from the tire load and transfers energyinto the rear wall 134 of the extrusion. The door harness pass througharea 210 is passed through the outer side wall 136 in a differentlocation from the ribs 140, 170 and the inner side wall 138. The secondrib 142 sets the door harness pass through area location for the innerside wall 138 and the ribs 140, 170. The front pillar 110 is adapted tomanage the impact force of the front tire in a front crash mode and theload from the front frame and transfer this combined load into thesurrounding body structure. The front pillar 110 is further adapted tomanage the impact force of a side crash and transfer this side load intothe surrounding body structure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary front pillar 110′ ofthe vehicle body 100 according to another aspect of the presentdisclosure. The front pillar 110′ has an internal space 230 defined by aforward wall 232, a rear wall 234, an outer lateral side wall 236, andan inner lateral side wall 238. The internal space 230 is partitioned bylongitudinally extending first and second ribs 240, 242. The first andsecond ribs 240, 242 connect inside faces of the forward wall 232 andthe rear wall 234. A laterally extending third rib 244 connects aninside face of the inner side wall 238 and the first rib 240. Similar tothe front pillar 110, the first, second, and third ribs 240, 242, 244separate the front pillar 110′ into a plurality of interior hollowportions, and more particularly into four hollow portions 250 to 256.The two laterally adjacent hollow portions 250, 252 define an outerlateral portion 260 of the front pillar 110′ and the two longitudinallyadjacent hollow portions 254, 256 define an inner lateral portion 262 ofthe front pillar 110′. The inner lateral portion 262 of the front pillar110′ has a length greater than a length of the outer lateral portion260. The front pillar 110′ further includes an angled wall portion 266extending in the vertical direction and connecting the forward wall 232and the inner side wall 238. The angled wall portion 266 defines part ofthe inner lateral portion 262 of the front pillar 110′ and the third rib244 is located rearward of the connection of the angled wall portion 266and the inner side wall 238. As will be described below, the angled wallportion 266, together with the forward wall 232, second rib 240 andthird rib 244, defines the hollow portion 254 which is an energyabsorbing load of the inner lateral portion 262 of the front pillar110′.

The inner side wall 238 defines a mounting surface for a dashboard lowerpanel 200′ which can be positioned rearward of the third rib 244. Ahinge plate 202′ is secured to the outer side wall 236 and defines amounting surface for an outer side panel 204′. The rear wall 234 definesa mounting location for a door support flange 206′ which is secured tothe outer side panel. This allows a door seal (not shown) to be attachedto a non-structural separate part of the vehicle body 100. Further, FIG.6 depicts a door harness pass through area 270 of the front pillar 110′.The harness pass through area 270 is defined by respective openings 272,274 located in each of the outer and inner side walls 236, 238 andrespective openings 276, 278 in the first and second ribs 240, 242. Theharness pass through area 270 is located rearward of the third rib 244.

FIG. 7 illustrates a force or load distribution of the exemplary frontpillar 110′ as a result of a tire load (from impact of the forward wall232 with a front tire), a separate front frame load and a separate sideload. As depicted, because the forward wall 232 is located directlyrearward of the front tire, the forward wall 232 distributes tire loadinto the outer side wall 236, the first rib 240, the second rib 242, andthrough the angled wall portion 266 into the inner side wall 238. Theload is transferred to the rear wall 234 and into the surrounding bodystructure of the vehicle body 100. The second rib 242 takes the tireimpact load and stabilizes the crush of the outer lateral portion 260 ofthe front pillar 110′. The second rib 242 further supports the outerlateral portion 260 for door hinge loading. It should be appreciatedthat at least one of the first rib 240 and second rib 242 can include asection having a variable thickness, which can be adapted to control acrush distance of the hollow portion 254 and transfer load to the rearwall 234. The angled wall portion 266 allows the front frame load totransfer through the forward wall 232 and the inner side wall 238. Thethird rib 244 stabilizes the crush of the hollow portion 254 and theload is transferred to the rear wall 234 and to the surrounding bodystructure of the vehicle body. The side load applied to the outer sidewall 236 is transferred through the rear wall 234 and the front wall 232to the surrounding body structure of the vehicle body 100.

Accordingly, the exemplary front pillar 110′ comprises an aluminumextruded section with internal strengthening ribs 240, 242, 244 tomanage input loads. The front pillar includes a plurality of interiorhollow portions 250 to 256 defined by the internal ribs. The rear wall234 of the front pillar transfers load into the surrounding body. Theangled wall portion 266 is adapted to allow load transferred from thefront frame to be directed down the forward wall 232 and inner side wall238 distributing the force. The third rib 244 stabilizes the crush ofthe hollow portion 254 at least partially defined by the angled wallportion 266. The impact load of the front tire is transferred throughthe outer side wall 236, the first and second ribs 240, 242 and theangled wall portion 266. The first rib 240 separates the outer and innerlateral portions 260, 262 of the front pillar 110′. The second rib 242stabilizes the outer lateral portion 260 of the front pillar 110′ underthe front tire loading and door hinge loading. A door harness can bepassed through the outer side wall 236 and the second rib 242 in thesame location. Due to the third rib position for performance the doorharness passes through the inner side wall 238 and the first rib 240 inthe same location, and this location differs from the outside location.The exemplary front pillar 110′ applies the angled wall portion 266 totransfer load from the front frame to the rest of the front pillarsection. The first and second ribs 240, 242 transfer load from the fronttire impact to the rest of the front pillar section and the surroundingbody. The front pillar 110′ is further adapted to manage the impactforce of a side crash and transfer this side load into the surroundingbody structure. And the internal ribs 240, 242, 244 still allow for therouting of the door harness through the front pillar section.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may bedesirably combined into many other different systems or applications.Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vehicle frame structure comprising: afront pillar having an internal space defined by a forward wall, a rearwall, an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral side wall, theinternal space partitioned by a longitudinally extending first rib and alaterally extending second rib interconnecting the first rib and theinner side wall, the first rib separating the front pillar into an outerlateral portion and an inner lateral portion, the outer lateral portiondefined by an outer lateral section of each of the front and rear wallsand the outer side wall, the inner lateral portion defined by an innerlateral section of each of the front and rear walls and the inner sidewall, the inner lateral portion of the front pillar having a lengthgreater than a length of the outer lateral portion of the front pillar,wherein the inner lateral portion of the front pillar is further definedby a longitudinally extending third rib intersecting the second rib andconnecting inside faces of the forward and rear walls.
 2. The framestructure of claim 1, wherein a hinge plate is secured to the outer sidewall and defines a mounting surface for an associated outer side panel,the rear wall defines a mounting location for an associated door supportflange which is secured to the associated outer side panel, and theinner side wall defines a mounting surface for an associated dashboardlower panel.
 3. The frame structure of claim 1, wherein the second andthird ribs at least partially defining energy absorbing lobes of theinner lateral portion.
 4. The frame structure of claim 3, wherein theinner lateral portion is separated into first and second hollow portionsdefined by a forward portion of the inner side wall, the first rib, thesecond rib, the third rib, and an inner lateral section of the forwardwall, and the inner lateral portion is further separated into third andfourth hollow portions defined by a rear portion of the inner side wall,the first rib, the second rib, the third rib, and an inner lateralsection of the rear wall.
 5. The frame structure of claim 4, wherein thefirst and second hollows are dimensioned smaller than the third andfourth hollows, and define the energy absorbing lobes of the innerlateral portion.
 6. The frame structure of claim 1, wherein the thirdrib includes a section rearward of the second rib having a reducedthickness.
 7. The frame structure of claim 1, wherein a harness passthrough area is defined by openings located in each of the outer andinner side walls and the first and third ribs, the harness pass thougharea being rearward of the second rib.
 8. A vehicle frame structurecomprising: a front pillar having an internal space defined by a forwardwall, a rear wall, an outer lateral side wall, and an inner lateral sidewall, the internal space partitioned by longitudinally extending firstand second ribs connecting inside faces of the forward and rear wallsand a laterally extending third rib connecting an inside face of theinner side wall and the first rib, the first, second and third ribsseparating the front pillar into a plurality of interior hollowportions, two laterally adjacent hollow portions defining an outerlateral portion of the front pillar and two longitudinally adjacenthollow portions defining an inner lateral portion of the front pillar.9. The frame structure of claim 8, wherein the front pillar includes anangled wall portion extending in a vertical direction and connecting theforward wall and the inner side wall.
 10. The frame structure of claim9, wherein the angled wall portion defines part of the inner lateralportion of the front pillar, and the third rib is located rearward ofthe connection of the angled wall portion and the inner side wall, theangled wall portion together with the first and third ribs at leastpartially defining an energy absorbing lobe of the inner lateralportion.
 11. The frame structure of claim 9, wherein the angled wallportion is adapted to transfer load from an associated front frame tothe forward wall and inner side wall, the third rib adapted to stabilizecrushing of the angled wall portion, and the first and second ribs areadapted to transfer a load from an associated front tire to the rearwall.
 12. The frame structure of claim 8, wherein a hinge plate issecured to the outer side wall and defines a mounting surface for anassociated outer side panel, the rear wall defines a mounting locationfor an associated door support flange which is secured to the associatedouter side panel, and the inner side wall defines a mounting surface foran associated dashboard lower panel.
 13. The frame structure of claim 8,wherein a harness pass through area is defined by openings located ineach of the outer and inner side walls and the first and second ribs,the harness pass though area being rearward of the third rib.
 14. Theframe structure of claim 6, wherein a forward one of the twolongitudinally adjacent hollow portions defines an energy absorbing loadof the inner lateral portion.
 15. The frame structure of claim 6,wherein the two laterally adjacent hollow portions defining the outerlateral portion of the front pillar are equally dimensioned, and the twolongitudinally adjacent hollow portions defining the inner lateralportion of the front pillar have differing longitudinal dimensions.